Runaway Mom Turns Herself In To The Alachua County Jail

Published May 4th, 2013

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ALACHUA COUNTY - It's the shocking story of the discovery of a Pennsylvania mom who disappeared eleven years ago and was declared dead by a judge. Well that mother is very much alive and in a bizarre turn of events ended up here in North Central Florida. In fact, the woman turned herself in to the Alachua County Jail. But before that, Brenda Heist resurfaced in Key West. It appears that she hitchhiked with strangers to South Florida back in 2002 and has been there ever since.

She took none of her belongings and didn't look back for 11 years. However last week she turned herself in to the monroe county jail in key largo and was later released. At the Alachua County Jail is where Heist walked in friday evening at approximately 6pm. She is being booked under the name Kelsie Smith. We did attempt to speak to her, however due to mental health questions about her well-being, she can't receive any visits.

Heist was wanted on a Santa Rosa county warrant for forgery of a written instrument and giving a false name to law enforcement. The name she gave was kelsie Smith.

Art Forgey, the spokesperson for the Alachua County Sheriff's Office said, "She hasn't given us any indication as to how she got here from the keys. And also as her address form the booking sheet she listed homeless so it's a mystery how she got from here to there or from there to here."

How she made it all the way to Alachua County from Monroe County is not known yet, however it is believed she has a brother in the area. Forgey adds, "Everything that I've read she's been gone 11-12 years and from what i've been able to read it looks like she's reached that point in time where the gig is up, let's open the past back up and write it."

According to detectives Heist was going through a divorce in 2002 when she was turned down for housing assistance, which led to her despair. She was crying in a park when two women and a man befriended her, then invited her to join them as they began a hitchhiking journey to Florida. Heist told police she slept under bridges and survived at times by scavenging food from restaurant trash and panhandling. During the years of her disappearance it was believed her ex-husband, Lee Heist had something to do with it.

Her ex-husband said, "People in the neighborhood would not allot heir children to play with my children because of what they perceived i might be. That hurt me more than anything else."

Heist went to first appearance this morning and will be awaiting extradition back to Santa Rosa County. There are no local charges on her here in alachua county.